Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Tulsi
Where to Buy: Spicely Organics
Tisane Description:
Relax and restore with this tulsi based blend. Cinnamon and rose blend perfectly with tulsi to ease away any tension and relax after a long day. INGREDIENTS: Organic Tulsi, Organic Cinnamon Sticks, Organic Rose Petals.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about the Spicely Organics Monthly Tea Membership here.
Taster’s Review:
This Organic Unwind Tulsi Tisane from Spicely Organics has a fairly simple ingredient list – tulsi, cinnamon and rose – but sometimes simplicity works. It certainly did in the case of this blend; it’s really quite tasty.
Since there is no camellia sinensis or other ingredients that were likely to become bitter if oversteeped, I went ahead and steeped this for 10 minutes in 195°F water. The result is a flavorful cup that has strong cinnamon overtones but it’s a natural cinnamon flavor: not that overly sweet-hot red-hot-candies sort of cinnamon-y flavor. This tastes like the cinnamon you’d sprinkle on your toast or over your bowl of oatmeal in the morning. It’s warm and zingy yet sweet.
The tulsi gives the cup a somewhat herbaceous note – I taste notes of basil. Basil and cinnamon are not two flavors that I would normally think to combine but they work nicely together to create a sweet yet savory note with hints of warm, zesty spice.
The rose offers a nice floral undertone. I like the way the rose and cinnamon work together – this is a flavor combination that I’ve been fond of for a long time and I’m happy to see another company embrace the combination.
A very calming, relaxing blend – just exactly the type of tisane I’d turn to if I wanted to “Unwind”!
Sunny Ceylon Flavored Black Tea from Tea People
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea People
Tea Description:
Ginger and lemon flavours are a match made in heaven. Add to that luxury Ceylon,which by the way, are considered an aphrodisiac. And you have your perfect honeymoon tea! Of course you don’t have to be on your honeymoon to have our Sunny Ceylon. With bits of pineapple,sunflower and calendula petals, it is guaranteed to bring you a taste of warm sunshine in the gloomiest of days.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m always excited to try teas from a new-to-me company, and this Sunny Ceylon Flavored Black Tea is the first that I’m tasting from Tea People! I chose this tea to try first because it’s been so cold and gray over the last week – not that I dislike this kind of weather, I actually prefer it to the sunshine – but, after a week of not seeing the sun, it’s kind of nice to have a bit of sunshine in my teacup.
When I opened the package and smelled the tea, it has a very sunshine-y kind of fragrance: bright and lemony! The brewed tea is not quite as citrus-y as the dry leaf, but I can smell the ginger and hints of lemon along with the distinct aroma of black Ceylon tea.
The flavor is nice! Even though the bouquet of the dry leaf suggested that this might taste very strongly of lemon, it’s not quite as powerful a flavor as I expected. Oh sure, I can taste the lemon in every sip, but, it doesn’t overpower the other flavors in my cup and that’s a really good thing. I can taste the ginger, I can taste the lemon … but mostly, I taste Ceylon tea!
It is a brisk tea with a medium body with an astringency that I’d categorize as fair to moderate. It is a cleansing astringency – after I’ve taken a sip, my mouth feels clean and dry, like it’s ready for another sip! But don’t mistake astringency for bitterness, because this isn’t bitter. (Although, as with any tea, I wouldn’t recommend oversteeping it because that could cause it to become bitter.)
The lemon adds a bright, sunny taste to the cup (hence the name!) The ginger is very mellow here, adding just a hint of warmth to the cup without tasting spicy. When I slurp the tea, I can taste very subtle whispers of pineapple which accentuate the lemon nicely. There isn’t enough pineapple here to offset the two primary flavors: lemon and ginger; there is just a hint of something a little extra that intrigues the palate to explore.
As the tea continues to cool (and I continue to sip) … the lemon becomes more apparent, and now that I’m about halfway through the cup, the lemon almost tastes as though I squeezed a thin slice of fresh lemon in my teacup. it’s very bright and juicy!
A really nice tea, and it turned out to be the perfect choice for this rather gray day! I can taste the sunshine in my teacup even if I can’t see it when I peek out my window! This joyous tea experience makes me look forward to trying some other teas from Tea People!
Gnarly Masala Chai from Steep This!
Chai Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Steep This!
Chai Description:
A shockingly addictive blend of Rose Petals, Jasmine Flowers, Cinnamon and Lavender among others. This gnarly blend of all things romantic is a treat after dinner and can be enjoyed iced for an extra special party drink.
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
I learned about this company – Steep This! – on Steepster. I’m always interested to try offerings from new companies (as well as to support these new companies!) so, I placed a small order to try ’em out.
And while perusing through the tea selections at Steep This!, I was very intrigued by this Gnarly Masala Chai. It’s a chai with most of the usual suspects present: cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and black pepper (but no ginger!), and then they added a sprinkling of lavender, rose and jasmine just to make things interesting … and it also made the blend really visually appealing.
It’s also quite an appealing blend to the nose. The fragrance of the dry leaf is spicy and floral, with a little more spice than flower. I like how these two profiles complement each other. The floral notes soften the spices just enough so that my olfactory nerves aren’t heavily assaulted with strong spice, and the spices counter the flower so that I’m not smelling an overly perfume-y aroma.
This is tasty! It’s a little spicier than I expected it to be. I guess I was expecting the floral notes to soften the spices a little bit, but I’m getting some fiery black pepper notes! The cinnamon is also warm! The cloves and cardamom sort of fill out the spice flavor. This blend doesn’t NEED the ginger, it’s getting plenty of pep from the black pepper!
I don’t taste a whole lot from the rose, jasmine or lavender unless I sip with a slurp. When the tea is aerated as it hits the palate, those floral notes come out, and they are flavors that develop as I continue to sip as well.
The sip starts out with a peppery note, and then quickly moves in to the other spices. The spices really round out the flavor for the palate. Then, right at mid-sip, the floral notes come into focus. I don’t really taste a specific flower … it’s more like a medley of the rose, jasmine and lavender. Sweet, exotic and soft. Just after mid-sip, the notes of the tea start to come forward – a rich, earthy flavor.
The aftertaste is a peppery taste with notes of flower. It’s a very interesting and delightfully different taste that I really enjoy.
I didn’t prepare this as a latte, mostly because I figured this chai had enough going on with the spices and the flowers … I didn’t want to add something that could possibly overwhelm the delicate floral notes because it was the flowers in this blend that enticed me to purchase this sample! I wanted to experience them in their splendor and not risk overpowering them with a splash of milk. But this tea is DELICIOUS served straight up. I really like the uniqueness of this chai.
This is the first tea that I’ve tried from this new company, and I’m enjoying it. I was VERY impressed with how quickly my order arrived, especially since this is a Canadian company and I’m here in the US. I guess my only complaint … and it’s not really a “complaint” but more of a comment … is that I just didn’t feel all that special as a customer. I placed a very small “samples” order, so I didn’t really expect a free sample with my order, but, something would have been appreciated.
I understand if some companies don’t include a free sample, because that’s product and especially with a new company, it can be expensive to include free samples with every order. However, a little acknowledgement would have been nice. A quick, hand-written “thank you” on the invoice would have been very appreciated and made me feel a little more appreciated as a customer. These little things – free samples, special attention to packaging, a piece of individually wrapped candy, or even just a hand-written note – make the customer feel like they are appreciated and it’s these little touches that send me back to try a company again and again. When I feel special as a customer, I will return to that vendor who made me feel that way.
Mamma Mia White Tea Blend from Shanti Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Shanti Tea
Tea Description:
The phrase ‘Mamma Mia’ has popped up quite a bit in popular culture: once as a 2008 American-British musical/romantic comedy film, again as a stage musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, and also as a song from ABBA. But in Italian, Mamma mia literally means “my mother”, and is an exclamation used in situations of surprise or anguish. In our case, we’ve adopted this phrase to mean “Wow, what an awesome tea!”.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I brewed Mamma Mia from Shanti Tea, I expected it to be a very floral tea. The photo is very true to what I saw when I opened the package: white tea combined with lots of petals and lavender buds.
The dry leaf smells amazing … and the brewed tea is even more fragrant! Notes of sweet lavender and aromatic rose. It’s beautiful. And the taste … like the appearance and fragrance … is quite floral.
But there’s more to it too. There is a hint of a wine-like flavor to this tea, like a sweet white wine or perhaps one of those fruity pink wines, because this has a distinct fruity tone to it. I taste notes of currant and raspberry.
And the white tea is not overpowered by the flavors in this cup, either. There is a sweet, hay-like note to this … notes of vegetation … it’s a very fresh, crisp and clean taste. The finish is clean, and there is a faint aftertaste that is sweet and even a little tart. I like that even though this is a very floral tea, I’m not getting a heavy floral aftertaste. The flowery taste lasts during the sip, but, I don’t feel this perfume-y note on the tongue after the sip is gone.
I find myself in total agreement with their last sentence of the above description: “Wow, what an awesome tea!” Indeed! I seem to fall more in love with this company with every new tea I try from them!
Rose Congou Emperor Tea from Culinary Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tea Description:
Congou is a general name for non-broken Chinese black teas. Rose Congou is layered 5 times with rose petals, which give the tea a delicate ethereal rose character.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Until today, I had never tried a Rose Congou tea iced. I had heard so much about how good Rose Congou tea is iced, but, I had not tried it. So when it came time to try this Rose Congou Emperor Tea from Culinary Teas, I figured it was high time that I try it iced!
And WOW! All that I’ve heard – all the hype and praise of Rose Congou as an iced tea – it’s all true! This tea is absolutely DELIGHTFUL iced! It’s a little sweeter, and there’s a tangy quality to it that is … it’s not quite what I’d call “tart” exactly, but, it offers a really pleasing contrast to the aforementioned sweetness. It is actually a little reminiscent of a Baklava that’s been flavored with rose water … at least, that’s what memories it evokes for me.
I really like this Rose Congou … having tried it first hot before allowing the remainder of the pot to cool enough to chill in the refrigerator, I found that this particular rose tea was very pleasant. The rose is soft and delicate and doesn’t taste perfume-y or overly floral.
The rose is nicely balanced with the Chinese Congou black tea, which provides a smooth, rich backdrop of flavor for the rose notes that play on the foreground. It tastes sweet and exotic. A very enjoyable cup hot … made even more enjoyable when served iced!
So, if you’re like me, and haven’t taken the time to stash a pitcher full of Rose Congou Tea in the icebox, do that now! You won’t be sorry. This makes an incredibly refreshing, unique and surprisingly delicious cold drink.